value commercially. The forbidding bluff of Portland guarded by its cliffs, by the westerly gales that sweep over it, by the dangerous Race, and by the Shambles, never allured a mediaeval invader to any attempt to secure a permanent foothold upon it ; the natural strength which daunted the enemy of that period was the principal defence then of Portland Roads, but is still more effective now when improved by engineering and military art. Torbay, although not so safe an anchorage, was preferred in the eighteenth century because nearer Brest ; when Cherbourg was suddenly enlarged into a great naval base and arsenal, the development of Portland, nearly opposite, but to windward, was the natural answer. The use of steam has greatly increased the strategical value of Portland. Although not a primary base, because it lacks appliances for docking and repairs, it holds a first place among those of its class, for, as it flanks Portsmouth and Plymouth, ¹ no enemy could venture to attack either of those placed while an English fleet, even of inferior strength but able to fight, lay in the naval harbour. He must therefore deal with the Portland fleet first and either mask it with sufficient force while he carried out his main purpose or await its pleasure as to the time of action. Except as following a series of disasters which would, by their direct and indirect effects, render a further struggle here useless, no enemy or combination of enemies is likely to possess sufficient strength simultaneously to hold quiescent a fighting fleet at Portland and to attack one of the great naval arsenals. For his fleet there would be far more risk of disaster than probability of success about a serious bombardment at any useful range ; and if he succeeded- the English loss would not be so great as would be involved in the destruction of a huge dockyard, with the private property around it. The methods of attack in modern naval war are likely to enforce the use of Portland as a centre for ships delayed in sailing or awaiting admission to Portsmouth, for Spithead can never be used again with the confidence permissible before the era of torpedoes and drifting mines.

The name of the British tribe inhabiting Dorset, the Durotriges, or ` water dwellers,' seems to imply some especial relation with the sea ; but a recent suggestion that the water in question was that of the marshes of Poole Harbour, and of the rivers emptying themselves into it, is a far more probable one than the supposition that the natives possessed any particular maritime aptitude. Unlike some of the other counties whose coast-line is broken by long beaches or stretches of salt-water marshes, that of Dorset offers little encouragement to beginners in navigation. If the Celtic appellation referred to the sea it involves the inference that the Durotriges were far more advanced in maritime affairs than any of the other races in Britain, for which there is no evidence either in history or in the numerous Celtic remains which have been found in the county. We may safely assume that such sea life as existed was confined to fishing close inshore - from coves and sheltered bays, and that the Durotriges had made even less progress in navigation than their neighbours east and west.

Omitting the Roman era, considered elsewhere, we find that the principal Saxon advance north-westward was by land from their favourite place of debarkation in Southampton Water. It is both possible and probable that

¹ Portland to Plymouth, 75 miles ; to Portsmouth, 6o miles ; to Guernsey, 60 miles ; to Alderney, 48 miles ; to Cherbourg, 62 miles.

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